JUDGES HEAR METH HORROR STORIES

General Sessions Judges Talk Shop At Jackson Event

After viewing slides of an actual methamphetamine user, General Sessions
Judge Susan Johnson said she's never felt worse.

"What this drug does to people is just horrific," said Johnson, who is a
part-time judge and attorney in White House, a town that straddles the
Robertson and Sumner county line in Middle Tennessee.

"I haven't had any meth cases in my counties and I hope that I won't,"
Johnson said. The closest the area has come to an actual meth case occurred
when police discovered meth in a vehicle stopped on Interstate 65.

Johnson is one of about 140 general sessions judges attending the weeklong
statewide conference being held in Jackson for the first time. Madison
County Juvenile Judge Christy Little is the group's president.

Investigators with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation gave the judges a
slide presentation detailing meth lab elements such as anhydrous ammonia,
Sudafed tablets and cooking instruments.

Judge George "Buzz" Lovell of Columbia said he had only heard of
methamphetamine before Wednesday's presentation.

"It's always been someone else's problem in surrounding counties," Lovell
said. "But if it's going on in the cities, it's going on in the rural
areas, too."

Bradley County Judge C. Van Deacon said he's seen an increase in meth cases.

"We have to pay attention to the criminal aspect of meth but also from the
juvenile aspect because a lot of kids are injured, killed or put into state
custody because of their family's involvement in making the drug," Deacon said.

The judges said they were most dramatically affected by the photos of meth
users.

"Their skin is discolored, they have a hollow look in their faces and some
are missing patches of hair," Johnson said. "It's amazing the risks that
some of the people take just to make this drug."

Other topics that will be discussed during the conference are traffic,
judicial demeanor and domestic violence.